The ditto Glucose Data System consists of a Bluetooth device, an electronic logbook app, and a secure Web site.
Biomedtrics

Let's face it: traditional glucose monitors require their share of work. Even diabetics who are diligent about monitoring their glucose levels have to then go to the trouble of either plugging the meters into a computer to upload the readings or tracking them manually.

With 26 million people suffering from diabetes in the U.S. alone (that's almost 1 in 10 Americans), and hundreds of millions globally, according to the American Diabetes Association, glucose monitoring has become one of the largest patient-generated data sets in the world.

Biomedtrics CEO Robert Englert saw an opportunity to put that data to better use, according to a company press release, allowing it to be more easily transmitted, stored, and shared -- all for the obvious benefit of people trying to manage the disease.

Biomedtrics, it should be noted, isn't the only company with such a feat in mind. Glooko, approved by the FDA earlier this year, features a logbook app and cable that connects several off-the-shelf monitors to iPhones, while a still small, elite new generation of glucose monitors is actually connecting directly to smartphones.

Competition will likely drive the cost down and the sophistication up in the years to come -- and if that makes them easier to buy and more likely to be used, then these next-gen glucose monitors will also be saving more lives.

About the author

Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is based in Portland, Oregon, and has written for Wired, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include climbing, billiards, board games that take up a lot of space, and piano.
See full bio